#2022 Fellowship

Now in its 14th year, the Fellowship honours the musical legacy of the late singer songwriter and The Go-Betweens co-frontman, Grant McLennan. Funded by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and presented by QMusic, the $15,000 Fellowship offers the recipient an opportunity to travel to New York, London or Berlin to be immersed in a foreign and vibrant musical culture to further develop their artistic skills.

Applications for this fellowship are now closed.

“Winning the Grant McLennan Fellowship has been a truly life changing experience. Having the opportunity to be an artist and song writer in New York has been an incredible chapter in my life and I am eternally grateful for the honour.” 

JACK BRATT - 2019 GRANT MCLENNAN FELLOWSHIP WINNER

#Paying Tribute To Grant McLennan

Grant McLennan was a seminal Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist who co-founded The Go-Betweens with Robert Forster in Brisbane in 1977. Grant was also a successful solo artist, releasing four albums throughout his career. He was an advocate for emerging Queensland artists and in 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association listed "Cattle and Cane" (1983), written by McLennan, as one of their top 30 Australian songs of all time. McLennan passed away at the age of 48, but is still considered one of Australia's greatest artists.

"I can remember being hit by the lyrics he put to his first songs. I was shocked by their melancholy and the struggle for joy. I’d known the happy-go-lucky university student. As soon as he wrote, there it was. Any appreciation or remembrance of Grant has to take this into account. He didn’t parade it, but it’s all over his work, and it was in his eye." — Robert Forster on his relationship with Grant McLennan, 'A true hipster', The Monthly.

Grant McLennan

#Get paid to travel the
world and write songs

Postponed for 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in normal years the prestigious $25,000 Grant McLennan Fellowship offers the recipient/s an opportunity to travel to New York, London or Berlin for up to six months and use the experience of being immersed in a foreign and vibrant musical culture to further develop their own artistic skills.

The Fellowship is for a contemporary music songwriter or songwriting duo with both experience and exceptional talent. The artist/artists will have more than five years of professional experience and will have developed a national profile through album releases, touring and media recognition.

The Grant McLennan Fellowship is delivered through a partnership with Arts Queensland and QMusic.

Founded in 2007 in honour of the late Queensland singer-songwriter and co-frontman of The Go-Betweens, Grant McLennan, the Fellowship is an incredible chance for local songwriters to take their careers to a whole new level.

The Grant McLennan Fellowship has been postponed for 2020 to invest further financial support into the local music industry in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

#Previous Winners

2019

2019

Jack Bratt

2018

2018

Danny Harley
(The Kite String Tangle)

2017

2017

Jeremy Neale

2016

2016

Hannah Macklin
(MKO Sun)

2015

2015

Timothy Steward
(WE ALL WANT TO, Screamfeeder)

2014

2014

Thomas Calder
(The Trouble With Templeton)

2013

2013

Seja Vogel

2012

2012

Louise O’Reilly and Paul Hannan
(Laneway)

2011

2011

Scott Spark

2010

2010

Danny Widdicombe & Andrew Morris
(The Wilson Pickers)

2009

2009

Helen Franzmann
(McKisko)

2008

2008

John Busby and Chris Dale
(Halfway)

2007

2007

Greg Charles

QMUSIC acknowledges the many Traditional Custodian groups all across what is now referred to as Queensland. We pay our respect to all elders: past, present and emerging. As a peak body we also acknowledge the important role that music has played and continues to play on these lands since the very first sunrise.

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